Order, Progress, and Ideal Government in Claudian's Epic De Raptu Proserpinae

IVETA PASTYŘÍKOVÁ: ORDER, PROGRESS, AND IDEAL GOVERNMENT IN CLAUDIAN'S EPIC DE RAPTU PROSERPINAE ABSTRACT The aim of the diploma thesis is to show how late Ancient poet Claudius Claudianus deals with the problem of ideal government in the mythological epic De Raptu Proserpinae, by which strategies he exhorts his reader to evaluate Jupiter's rule in the world of the poem and to compare it with the situation in the real world. The chosen method is the theory of fictional worlds. Firstly, the thesis outlines the relation between the fictional world of the epic and the real world, then, the attention is paid to the essential question of this fictional world, ideal government. The thesis presents the prefaces of the epic as entrances into the fictional world foreshadowing topics elaborated in the world of the poem, where the ruler Jupiter has a difficult task ahead of him: to harmonize progress with protection against chaos. The last chapter summarizes the author's strategies and compares the epic with Claudian's other poems